The Series XI DVD artwork is reversible; one side features a starscape with the main characters; and the other side is a more traditional cover and features the blue-tinged cockpit interior of the new Starbug, with the deranged droid Asclepius on the spine.

Contents

Announcements

Confirmation of Series XI and XII

Actor Robert Llewellyn posted a blog in October 2013 insisting than "an eleventh series will happen" and that it would be "sometime in 2014". Llewellyn later removed the post and writer Doug Naylor played down suggestions that Series XI was definitely happening.

In January 2014, Danny John-Jules confirmed in an interview to Digital Spy that Doug Naylor was currently in the process of writing Series XI, and that as the show's Series X brought in record ratings for UKTV's Dave channel and the cast have all expressed an interest in returning for Series XI, Naylor was still going ahead with writing XI (although Danny and Robert had been chastised by Doug for revealing secrets too early).[1]

At the April 2014 Sci-Fi Scarborough Festival, during the Red Dwarf cast panel, Danny John-Jules said that Series XI had been green-lighted and commissioned by Dave, and that filming of the eleventh season would commence in October 2014, with an expected broadcast date of Autumn 2015.[2]

It was officially announced 2 May 2015 that two new series of Red Dwarf were commissioned by Dave. These once again featured the main cast of Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Danny John-Jules, and Robert Llewellyn and were written and directed by Doug Naylor. Recording began for both series in October 2015 in front of a live audience, and the twelve produced episodes were broadcast in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Doug Naylor said of the new series: "Frustratingly it's taken until now to get our ducks in a row and all the boys available at the same time. Now they are, we're all absolutely delighted."[3]

Pre-production

Doug Naylor also revealed additional details about Series XI at DJXVII. These included confirmation that the next two series would reuse the sets from Series X, instead of creating new sets (so we're likely to get the same Drive Room and sleeping quarters as those in Series X), since this will then allow the set budget to expand the scope to things like a new Starbug interior (which was not seen in Series X). The overall budget is "enough to tell the stories Doug wants to tell", and filming may be moving from Shepperton Studios (where RD has been filmed since Series III) to Pinewood Studios.

Pre-release images

The following images related to the two upcoming series have been released through the official Red Dwarf website and twitter feeds of cast and crew.

Summary

"Two of the Dwarfers' dreams come true: Rimmer accidentally saves the life of a Space Corps Captain and is promoted to Officer, while Cat takes time off from being in love with himself to fall in love with a female Cat with a secret. Meantime, Lister wakes up to discover a deranged droid has stolen some of his body parts and Kryten has a mid-life crisis and considers leaving the Dwarfers for a younger crew. The posse also find themselves in an alternative America where modern technology is outlawed, making both Kryten and Rimmer illegal."

When the Dwarfers investigate a crashed ship at the bottom of an ocean moon, Dave Lister and Cat become trapped together, and Lister's nightmare begins. Meantime, Rimmer and Kryten discover the ship is controlled by a dark force.

After a scandalous piece of good fortune, Rimmer saves the life of a bio-printed Space Corps Captain and is promoted, fulfilling his life-long dream of becoming an Officer. He immediately opens an Officer's Club, which is out of bounds to the lower orders, and uses the bio-printer to fill it with versions of himself.

Kryten has a mid-life crisis, and changes his body cover from Mech grey to Ferrari red. The Dwarfer posse try and show Kryten how much he's achieved in life, by taking him to visit a mechanoid from his old fleet.